Africa’s fastest man ever in the 100m, Ferdinand Omanyala, believes running in Jamaica will be ideal for his preparation heading into the Paris Olympics this summer.

The Kenyan is set to go up against the likes of Noah Lyles, Oblique Seville, and Zharnel Hughes at the Racers Grand Prix this evening at National Stadium in Jamaica.

The two-time African champion and Commonwealth Games champion only has two 100m races under his belt this season but produced 9.98 seconds to finish second at the Eugene Diamond League last Saturday.

Omanyala believes he can improve his season best after being impressed with the local conditions.

“I’m happy to be in Jamaica, I’ve been invited twice so I’m glad I made it this time. It’s far from home and I’m glad it came at a point where we’re having our US tour, and I’m happy to be here. I’ve been told I have many fans and I want to see that in the field,” he said.

“Since the season started I haven’t had good weather to run in because I’ve been running in rain and cold weather, so I’m happy I’m in Jamaica and it’s very hot. Looking at my previous runs in hot weather, the best one was in Botswana and I did a 9.78, so I’m looking forward to running tomorrow and I’m looking for a very fast time,” he added.

Though not considered the favourite for this evening’s 100m, Omanyala believes it will be a good test for his Olympic ambition.

“What I’ve done is [to be] relaxed at the start because I know in the whole field I’m the fastest starter, so the most important thing for me is to get the execution right and the weather is okay so I don’t have to worry about that. In terms of times, we’re looking at getting season’s best in every run so a season’s best will be appreciated, but you don’t know how deep it will go.”

The 28-year-old clocked a personal best 9.77 seconds in September 2021 and not only became the fastest African in history but became the third athlete to run sub-9.8 since Usain Bolt’s retirement in 2017.

However, he hasn’t been able to convert that to medals at major championships after finishing seventh at the World Championships in Budapest last year and failing to make the final in 2022.

But Omanyala is confident he can be on the podium in Paris after making a strategic change in his career.

“I changed coaches and it’s been a different feeling, because I usually have a fast part of the year but then during championships it becomes a problem, so that’s what made me change coaches. I want to run the fast time when it matters, I’ve seen people run fast and talking big, but I’ve had the experience of running 9.80 in March and the experience of running 9.7 in April so I know how that feels. I don’t want that any more, I want to run when it matters,” he said.

Omanyala is also more optimistic after getting some valuable mentorship from former World record holder Asafa Powell.

“I talked to Asafa some time back and he told me put yourself first because fans want stuff, the country want things, but either way, it’s all up to you. So just put yourself first as an athlete and choose your races wisely and don’t succumb to pressure, and it’s been working well,” he said.